Saturday, June 2, 2007

I know I promised more pictures of the kids, but I didn't take any. Sorry. I will tomorrow. I needed a break. I did, however, take picture of the garden, it's far more cooperative than the kids & husband.

Last night we were drenched in some rain and wind. I ran out to get some shots of the sunset after the storms, and took this picture in the front yard. Rain was dripping from the trees. Pretty.

In other news, Ben went poo-poo on the potty chair last night. We are so proud of him, as he fears poo-ing on the chair quite a bit (he screams in fits & squeezes his cheeks together when he has to poo and he's on the chair, just like I did as a child; I even memorized the bronze and brown pattern on the wallpaper in my grandma's bathroom as I sat; I can still see it today.) Anyhoot, with Ben, progress has really been made, and he's taken to peeing on the chair most of the time. We are not done yet... more work to come. Having his friend Joey over to encourage him on Friday seemed to really work. Joey has been potty trained for awhile now, and I asked him to tell Ben how "easy" it is. Ben liked the idea even more.

Today was a pretty fun day. We woke up early (before 6am thanks to Ben,) and did our grocery shopping & put everything away by 9am. On the way home we noticed some good garage sales, so we decided to walk to them. We walked all over town, picking up a dozen 10-25 cent books for the kids, a huge $3 chalk board, and a $2 wooden firetruck puzzle. We headed for the library, and on our long walk home spotted a good-sized storm approaching. When we realized we could not outrun it, Theo walked ahead to get the car, and the boys and I tucked into a hardware store. Once home, and out of harms way, we hopped in the car and went to pick up cat litter from Petco, where Hunter fell in love with fish. I've never seen him so excited. Ben shouted "Nemo" at a clownfish type, as loudly as he could. Momma seemed really drawn to the fish, too? Suddenly, they seemed like something I'd like to try. So, a fish tank is perhaps on the wish list? Who knows...

Tonight we played with the neighbors while Theo mowed the lawn. I got to work dead-heading, weed-pulling, and tidying things up afterward. My radishes are about done, I pulled some more out tonight, and there are less than a dozen I kept to keep progressing in the ground a week more. What to do with this empty space? I decided chives. Garlic and Common. They may not get a full-seasons worth of growth this year b/c I am planting them so late, but they are perrennial, so next year they'll come back and be ready for consumption. Yum. I planted the seeds tonight, carefully working around the still-growing radishes. The entrances to the veggie/herb place is coming along... here is the climbing rose there, some towering herbs, and that blanket flower I showed you last week, the smaller annuals in the foreground are impatiens, Nasturium, and a Cardinal Climber vine that should mingle with this rose soon.

Last week another neighbor gave me a few seeds for swiss chard. I had never heard of it before. I planted them in some tiny pots, and a day or two later spotted them at Olbrich Gardens in a flower bed. Such a pretty plant, even if I never eat them! I was anxious to try growing them, and I am sure we will eat them, so tonight I tucked some Swiss Chard seeds in between some of the marigolds, peppers, and such... I am so excited to see how it works out. As you can see, things are really filled out. I think some plants grew as much a foot in 2 days with all this soaking rain falling. Love it.

My yellow climbing rose is blooming. Not sure of the variety, and the kids are sleeping so I don't want to grab my folders. Pretty though. And surprising fragrant. It has been in the garden 2 years now, also. This is it's most prolific showing yet, and it's early. I hope it grows taller this year!

Here are more of the new rose I picked up last week. Speechies, wish I had some smell-o-vision right now, this rose smells so good, like the lemon yellow marker.

Foxgloves are blooming. So pretty. One of my favorite things in the garden.

The black hollyhocks are starting to bloom. Even the buds are cool. Insects are getting bad, so I may have to take action. Hollyhocks are notorious for bugs. Any suggestions?

Here is the blanket flower up close. I love this! It's been in the garden for 2 years. Doesn't it looks like a sunset? I had a yellow variety growing last year, and so far I have not seen it coming up. Perhaps a gonner? I'll check tomorrow.

Here come those Cannas I was given the day I dragged a Rhubarb plant across town. I stuck a few in the back of this planter here. See those chutes of green coming up?

3 comments:

Swiss chard is great in salads. My favorite way to eat them is to chop them up like celery and steam them until just soft (you can steam the leaves too, but separately because they don't take as long), and then I toss them with some apple cider vinegar, honey, and dessert wine poached dried fruits (basically cook dried fruits like cherries and raisens in moscato wine over low heat until they get plump). A little salt and pepper, and you get this amazing sweet, tangy and sour salad that tastes great served cold. Sooooo jealous of your food garden! I think I killed my chives already!